Illumination
by gypsywriter135
Summary: When an argument gets out of hand, two brothers are forced to confront one another, and one turtle discovers things about the other that he never knew, and their relationship will be forever changed...


Hey guys! What's happening? Haha.

So this is my first fic. Ever. So, I decided to make it a TMNT fic :). I have been studying up on my TMNT recently (Saw the movie, and absolutely LOVED it! Wanted to learn more, so I've been watching the 2003 series) and it just makes me love them more! I have to say, Leo is my favorite. He just seems so guarded and mysterious... I just had to write about it! Haha. So, here is my first fic. Hope you all like it! Please review! (Just a little easy on the flames... I like criticism, just not so harsh... Please?)

Well, hope you enjoy!

TMNT

Mikey scrunched his eyes together, trying to block out the sound of his brother's fighting. In the seat next to him, his other brother, Don, was staring hard at the book he was reading. His eyes were no longer even moving across the page, but rather, staring at a single spot, trying to concentrate with the loud racket going on behind him.

"You can't tell me what to do, Leo! You don't own me!"

"I'm not telling you what to do, Raph! I was merely telling you what time to be home!"

"So I have a curfew, but you don't?"

"Of course I have a curfew, you bonehead!"

"Don't call me a 'bonehead', Splinter Junior!"

"Hothead!"

"Jungle boy!"

Mikey glanced at Don as the two eldest turtles continued to call one another names. The purple-banded turtle looked even more agitated than before. Mikey could almost see a vein throbbing in his forehead.

"How much longer do you think this one will last?" Mikey asked him quietly.

Don response was interrupted as the older brothers came flying over the couch, bounced off him, and continued to roll on the floor, each trying to gain leverage over the other.

It was then that Don lost it. He puffed air through his nose-much like a bull about to charge-threw his book on the couch, and stood up. He grabbed his bo staff from where he had left it earlier on the floor beside the couch, and promptly stalked over to his older brothers, where he managed to wack them both on the head.

That got their attention. Leo and Raph looked up at Don, glaring at him.

"What the shell, Donny?!" Raph yelled.

"Just stay out of this, Don!" Leo said sternly.

The two of them were just about to continue where they had left off, but Don cut them off.

"I _would_ stay out of this if I could, but everyday for the past two weeks you two have been yelling at each other and I am unable to stay out of it any longer!" Don screamed. "The two of you argue over everything and anything, and it's driving me crazy! I've been at the same exact spot in the same book for _three days_! I've had it!"

Mikey, Raph, and Leo all looked at Don, jaws dropped. Don was never one to yell, and to see him get mad at one of them was a rarity in itself. It didn't happen often.

"Look, Don-"

"Don't try to talk yourself out this, Raph!" Don interrupted. He pointed at his older brothers. "Follow me!"

Don turned his back and walked over to the dojo. He didn't turn around to see if they had followed him, but he really didn't care. He entered their training area, took all the weapons and threw them in a pile outside the door. Then he pointed to the door.

"You two get in there and work this out!" he demanded, looking strait at Leo and Raph.

"Don, I don't think this is necessary…" Leo said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Mikey, a little help, please."

"On it, dude," Mikey said, and promptly pushed his oldest brothers in the dojo. It happened so fast, they had no time to register what had happened, and fell in a pile inside the door, which Don then shut.

"Donny!" Raph roared, banging on the door. He heard the door lock from the outside and then something heavy being placed in front of it.

"The two of you can come out when you have resolved whatever problems you have with each other!" Don yelled back.

"Don!" Leo yelled, his voice full of authority. "You let us out this instant!"

Silence.

"Ahhhh!" Raph growled. He turned to Leo. "Look what you went and did now! Got Don all angry and he up and locked us in here!"

"Oh, so it's my fault… again?!" Leo countered. "If you would just listen to me-"

"I don't have to listen to you, Leo!"

"In some cases you do! I'm the leader-"

"A fact that you never let me forget!"

"Maybe I wouldn't have to remind you if you would just listen to me every once in a while!"

"If you would stop trying to rule me, then maybe I would listen a little more!"

"I'm not trying to 'rule you,' Raph! I'm trying to keep you from making stupid decisions and getting yourself and the rest of us killed!"

"Are saying that every time one of us got hurt, it was because of me?!"

"No! Of course not! I just-"

" 'Cause that's the way it sounds, coming out of your big mouth!"

"Raph! If you would just listen-"

Outside the dojo, Don and Mikey listened as their brother's argued even more.

"How long 'till you think they'll stop?" Mikey asked.

Don shook his head. "Hopefully not too long," he replied. "I swear, ever since Leo got back from his training, things between him and Raph have been worse than ever before."

"Not true!" Mikey argued. "There was that small period of time where the two of them were cool! At least… for a couple days anyways."

"Yeah, but that ended all to quickly," Don said.

"Hey, Don?" Mikey suddenly asked. "Why'd you take all the weapons from the dojo out?"

"That way, if things got bad enough, then those two wouldn't have any things to seriously harm each other," Don answered.

Mikey grinned. "Good thinking, bro!"

Half an hour later, Raph and Leo were still arguing. This time, they couldn't even remember what had gotten them on this subject anyways.

"If I don't want to keep my room as clean as you do, that's not any concern of yours!" Raph yelled.

"I give up!" Leo screamed, throwing his hands in the air as he turned and walked away to other end of the dojo, where he started pacing back and forth.

In all honesty, it surprised Raph. Leo had never given up, especially over something as petty as a fight with his brother. Raph's eyes followed his brother's movements; he had expected him to start meditating, or going off to practice.

It was quite for a few minutes, with the only sound being Leo's soft steps across the dojo floor.

"What'd ya mean, 'you give up'?" Raph asked.

"I'm done arguing with you," Leo snapped. "It's a waste of time, and you'll never respect me as leader enough to actually listen to me anyways."

Raph looked like he had been slapped. Leo thought that he didn't respect him?

"Leo… where'd you get an idea like that…?" Raph asked quietly.

Leo didn't stop his pacing, but he did glance up to glare at his brother. "Hmm, let's think now, shall we?" he said sarcastically. "You always disobey my direct orders, challenge my authority, and when I try to ask a simple question, you act like I had just asked you to go and kill one of our brothers!"

Raph was surprised. Leo should know better; that he only does that stuff because he likes to be a rebel. He doesn't like anyone ordering him around.

"I don't do that stuff on purpose, Leo," he said, still watching his brother.

Leo just snorted. "Could've fooled me."

Raph continued to look on as his older brother proceeded to pace up and down the dojo, lost in his own thoughts, a scowl in his furious face.

Where was Leo getting all this from? It wasn't like Raph had meant for him to take the things he said seriously. Shell, no one took the things he said seriously when he was in one of his moods.

It was just who Raph was. It was in his genetic make-up. Just like Donny was the turtle who thought things through before he ever did anything, and Mikey was the goof-off. It was just the way they were made, and part of it was because they all had each other to look too for guidance.

Raph was jolted from his thoughts as he heard a sudden sound. Glancing up, he realized that Leo was standing with his shell facing him, his arm against the wall and his head on his arm.

"Did you just… hit the wall?" Raph asked, eyes wide as he looked at Leo.

"Mind your own business, _little_ _brother_," Leo snapped.

If it were possible, steam would have blown out of Raph's ears. "What did you call me?" he asked dangerously.

Leo smirked. "Oops," he said, turning to look at Raph. "Did I say that?"

A growl rose to Raph's throat, and he went to where his sais were on his belt, but was a little shocked to see that they weren't there. Then he remembered that he had left them by the door where his trench coat was.

_Guess it's a good thing Leo was cleaning his swords when we started to fight…_ Raph thought as he glanced at his brothers back. It was missing the usual sheaths that held his beloved katanas.

Leo faked a yawn. "I've heard scarier things in the jungles of Central America," he said. He then turned and leaned, with his shell against the wall, and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Raph stopped. Leo never mentioned his six month- which turned into eighteen months without word- training period. It had been almost a month since the eldest turtle had returned home, and during those four weeks, he hadn't said a thing about his travels.

It's not like they hadn't tried. That had been one of the first things out of Mikey's mouth, but Leo had just smiled and said that he had been a number of places. Later, Don had tried to get Leo to tell, but he once again found a way around it. Even Raph had tried to coax it out of his older brother, during those few days where they had been civil to each other, but Leo refused to talk about it.

So it came as a surprise when he mentioned it suddenly. Raph looked at Leo. "When were you in Central America?" he asked cautiously, sitting down. He didn't want Leo to clam up after finally bringing it up.

The smirk on Leo's face dropped suddenly, and a look passed behind his dark brown eyes.

"A few months…" he said, running his eyes over his brother.

"Does that mean that you were other places too?" Raph probed.

Leo's golden-speckled brown eyes met Raph's amber ones. "it doesn't matter where I was, Raph," he said quietly. "All that matters is that it's over and I'm home."

Anger flashed through Raph briefly before it was extinguished. He watched as Leo pushed away from the wall and headed over to the single table in the dojo, where a dark brown duffel bag was sitting underneath it. He went over and rummaged through it quickly before taking something out of it and approached Raph.

"I forgot to give you guys these," he said as he handed Raph a package that was wrapped in beige paper and had twine holding it together. "Guess through all the activity going on here, it just slipped my mind."

Raph gently took the small package. Leo sat down opposite him, a few feet away and watched as his brother stared at the gift, then back at Leo, and back at the gift.

"You can open it, Raph," he said, smiling slightly. "It's not gonna bite you."

The red-banded turtle looked at Leo. "You didn't have to get me anything…" he said.

Leo's smile dropped. "I went away to several different countries, and you thought I wasn't going to bring my brothers and father back souvenirs? I'm not a jerk, Raph, no matter what you guys may think."

The comment from his older brother once again caught Raph's attention. "We don't think you're a jerk, Leo…" he said, looking his brother in the eye.

Leo looked serenely surprised. "What?"

"I mean, you may be a bit bossy sometimes, and you may yell at us for stupid stuff, and sometimes you lecture us about things that aren't really relative, and-"

"Feel free to stop any time," Leo interrupted, sounding a little annoyed.

"What I'm trying to say," Raph continued, "is that we know you're not some power hungry jerk. You're just trying to watch out for us. We may gripe and snort and complain, but that's just who we are. Just like it's who you are."

Leo just looked at his younger brother, searching his eyes for something, before he broke his gaze. "Just open the present, Raph," he said quietly, getting up and moving over to the meditation mats, where he sat cross-legged, but didn't begin the actual exercise.

Raph gave his brother a worried and perturbed look before turning to the package in his hands. It was about a foot long and about half a foot long. Quickly following his brother's instructions, he tore off the twine and the paper. Opening the box, his breath escaped him momentarily.

He ran his hands delicately over the black sais that were resting on the bottom of the shallow box. They were octagon, different from Raph's round ones, and they were completely black. They were steel, also different from Raph's. The handles were wrapped in a very soft leather, like nothing Raph had ever felt before, the leather had just a small reddish tint to it.

Raph turned his eyes back to Leo, who was looking at him with silent expectation. He looked anxious, but a little apprehensive all at the same time.

"Leo, they're…" he started to say, not really sure how to tell his brother how thankful he was.

"If you don't like them, I'm sure Don can sell them on EBay and you can use the money for something else," Leo said, taking his hesitation as a sign that he didn't like them.

"Don't like them?" Raph repeated. "Leo, they're amazing!"

Leo's face erupted into a small smile. "Glad you like them," he said.

"Where'd you get the money to pay for these?" Raph asked, curious. Leo had left with hardly any money. Master Splinter had told him that he wouldn't be needing it…

Leo's response was delayed a few minutes as he seemed to slip away in his mind, the smile dropping slightly. "Don't worry about the price," he replied.

Raph took the weapon out of the box and expertly twirled it in his hands. "I don't think I can actually use this…" he whispered. "It would ruin it…"

"Stainless steel," Leo commented.

Raph looked at his older brother in amazement. He didn't really know how to express his gratitude; that was Mikey's department. Raph was more of a turtle of action, but more aggressive actions. He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it.

Leo chuckled. "You're welcome, Raph," he said, noting the younger turtle's discomfort.

Raph smiled gratefully at his older brother and nodded, fingering his sai again. He just didn't want to put it down.

"So how long do you think Donny will keep us in here?" Raph asked. Then he could have smacked himself. Leo had just given him the best gift ever, and Raph wanted out of here.

_What the shell is wrong with you?!_ He scolded himself.

Leo looked thoughtful, not hurt though. "A few hours maybe? It's already been an hour, and we were forced in here at eight o'clock. I'd say that by ten at the latest."

Raph nodded. "What were we even fighting about anyways?"

Leo shrugged. "I honestly can't remember anymore."

The younger turtle laughed. "I can't believe we made him angry enough to do this."

Leo smiled. "Yeah. We have been pretty bad these past few weeks…"

Something Leo had said earlier suddenly jumped to mind. "Leo, you said earlier that we didn't respect you. Where did that come from?"

Leo looked a little tense. "Look, Raph, what I said earlier… can we just forget it happened? I didn't mean-"

"That's a bunch of shell," Raph interrupted. Leo looked at him. "You never say anything you don't mean. So don't give me that crap."

Leo looked surprised. Even Raph was surprised. Raph had just _lectured_ Leo, _without_ raising his voice once.

And for the first time in a long time, Leo was speechless. He didn't know what to say, and so it took a while before his shoulders slumped in defeat and he looked at his hand in his lap. "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me why you think we don't respect you…" Raph said.

Leo looked a little hesitant. "It's not that I think that, it's just… I don't know…" Leo said, clearly uncomfortable. If Raph hated sharing his feelings, Leo hated it even more. "I guess you guys just never listen to me, and then when I try to help, you always get in my face and…" he sighed. "I guess I just feel that ever since I got back from training, you guys just ignore my every word of advice…"

Raph was shocked. He never knew that Leo felt that way. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he didn't actually know a whole lot about his older brother. He didn't know his favorite foods, color (he just assumed that it was blue because of the color of his bandana), or what his favorite T.V. show was. He didn't know what his brother did for fun. He was sure that he didn't like just meditating all the time. After all, he was still only an eighteen-year-old turtle…

Raph just realized that though Leo was the oldest of the turtles, he was still the same age as them. He was still a teenager, who had the same fears and needs as the rest of them did. The only thing was that he had taken the responsibility of the rest of them, as well as the responsibility of being a leader. He had seen and done things that the rest of them would have fallen apart from, and yet here he was, acting like he was fifty instead of eighteen…

A sound pulled Raph from his thoughts, and he glanced up to see Leo rub hastily at his eyes.

"Leo, are you… are you crying?" he asked, slightly unnerved. He had never seen Leo cry… ever…

"No," Leo whispered, averting his eyes. "I don't cry, Raphael."

Pause.

"It's okay to cry sometimes, Leo…"

Leo glanced quickly up at his younger brother, his mask wet around the eyes, before looking away. "Not when you're leader and you have three brothers to watch out for. It shows weakness and I'm not allowed to show weakness. It could get you all hurt one day…"

"And I'm not crying," he added after a short pause.

Raph looked at his older brother for a minute, before getting up and walking over to him. He sat down-Leo looking at him out of the corner of his eyes, confused and tense-and enveloped him in a big hug.

Leo was very tense at first, but he eventually relaxed, the tears coming faster now. Raph was able to position himself so that Leo was in his lap, Leo's head under his chin, and holding the shaking turtle tightly. He rubbed circles in his shell, and said soothing words as tears ran down his beak, dripping on the floor next to them.

"Leo, when are you going to realize that it's not good to keep all this in?" Raph said.

"But I have too…" Leo was able to choke out. "If I don't, then one of you might get hurt, and then-"

"Leo, when are you going to start acting like an eighteen year old, and not like some cynical old man?"

There was a pause in the shakes as Leo lifted his head up to stare at his brother, a bit confused.

Raph sighed. "You keep taking on our problems and hold back your own. You never have time for yourself; you are always thinking and doing things for us. Take some time and start acting like a teenager, an older brother, instead of a father figure."

Leo's eyes went wide for a second before the tears came back in full force, if not greater than they had been a few minutes ago.

Neither knew how long they stayed like that before Leo pulled away, wiping madly at his eyes. Neither spoke for the longest time; they just sat there, Raph calmly and watching as his brother tried to compose himself, his arm wrapped protectively around the elder's shoulders.

"Thanks, Raph," Leo said quietly, looking at his brother through a tear-stained blue mask.

Raph nodded. "Next time you want to hold anything in, promise me you will talk about it, before this happens again."

Leo nodded. "As long as you do the same when you get angry," he bargained.

Raph clipped him on the shoulder playfully. "I knew I wouldn't get through this easily. But okay. I promise."

The two smiled at each other and then looked away. They sat in silence for a few more minutes before one of the spoke.

"Hey, Leo," Raph said, looking slightly uncomfortable. "I know I don't say this a lot and I think you should know…"

Leo stared at him expectantly. "I just thought you should know that… I think you're a great leader and… a wonderful big brother… and that I… I… I love you…"

Leo stared at him, jaw hanging open slightly. Raph averted his eyes, a little embarrassed by the show of emotion.

"I love you too," Leo said after finding his tongue.

The two smiled and embraced each other again.

"So, you wanna hear about my training period?" Leo asked after they broke away.

Raph smiled. "You betcha!"

Leo smiled as well, and started talking, from the minute he got off the plane, to the time when he got on the plane to come home.

It had been three and a half hours since Donatello had locked his two brothers in the dojo. For the first hour, all he had heard was muffled shouting, but after the first hour, there had been silence. He vaguely wondered if maybe one had killed the other. It was good thing he had removed the weapons, and that Leo and Raph's normal ones were still around the lair somewhere.

But on the bright side, he had gotten his book finished, as well as some projects. So when he looked at the clock after taking off his safety goggles, he was a bit shocked when the clock read eleven thirty. Mikey was dozing on the couch, the T.V. turned on to some random channel.

Donny sighed and got up. He guessed it was time to let the two turtles out.

Mikey's eyes snapped open as he heard Don walk to the dojo door, where Leo's favorite chair was resting against the door as an extra barricade.

"You gonna let 'em out?" he asked, standing up and walking over to help move the chair.

Don nodded. "I have to admit I'm a little worried. Two and a half hours of silence between Leo and Raph, where both of them are locked in the dojo, is a little odd."

Mikey nodded as they set the chair down in its proper place. "Think anything happened?" he asked as he followed Don to the door and watched as he opened it. The two younger turtles stood in the frame, jaws dropped by the sight before them.

Raph was lying on the floor of the dojo, his head tilted against the wall. Leo was also lying down, using Raph's plastron as a pillow. Raph's hand was lightly resting on his brother's chest, while Leo absentmindedly played with the tails of the red bandana. They both looked up when they heard the door open.

"Hey, guys," Raph said, smiling at the two dumbstruck turtles. He allowed for Leo to sit up, before he climbed to his feet, leaning against the wall.

"What happened?" Mikey asked, finding his voice.

Leo and Raph looked at each other, Leo silently pleading with his eyes. Raph turned back to his brothers.

"Let's just say we came to an understanding," Raph said.

Leo smiled, relieved, as the two of them walked out. As he passed the still stunned Donny on his way out, he gently grabbed his arm and whispered, "Thanks, Don."

Don and Mikey looked at each other briefly before running after the two older turtles.

"What happened in there?!"

"Thanks for what?!"

But no matter what they did, Raph and Leo didn't budge.

A few days later, Don knew that things would be forever changed. Sure, Leo and Raph would argue; they were two different not to. But the fights would be a lot less aggressive. And the thing that made Don know this, also warmed his heart.

It was a Sunday night, and Mikey had already gone to bed. It was three in the morning, and Don dragged himself from his lab, rubbing at his eyes tiredly and yawning. But when he went into the living room, he was surprised to see the T.V. on. Curious, he walked over to the couch, and smiled fondly at the sight before him.

Raph and Leo were sitting there, feet up on the table and squeezed tightly together. Raph's head rested on Leo's shoulder, and Leo's head was on Raph's. Leo had his arm wrapped around his brother's shoulders, and Raph was turned slightly in, his arm across Leo's plastron.

Don shook his head. The two of them had gotten along great the past few days. Raph was a little more helpful and Leo was a little less strict. And both turtles had a tendency to disappear into the dojo for a few hours- where no sounds of fighting took place- and came out laughing every time. Even their runs topside had been filled with light banter and playful swipes.

He quietly grabbed a blanket off the floor and gently lay it across them, careful not to wake them up. Then he took the remote, shut the television off, and headed to bed.

Raph and Leo both had smiles on their sleeping faces.

TMNT

I love the whole, Leo/Raph Brotherly Moments... They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :)

So, did you like it? Review please!


End file.
